The lobster boat ELASSONA in at Royal River Boat Yard in Yarmouth for some annual maintenance.
This is a Wesmac 38, which was finished off by Farrin’s Boat Shop in Walpole 14 years ago. She was in to be repowered and have a facelift.
This is a wooden lobster boat built by John’s Bay Boats of South Bristol, back in for her annual maintenance.
Buxton Boats, Sunset, ME
Last September Peter Buxton, owner of Buxton Boats, started construction on a 33-foot wooden dayboat for a customer from Port Clyde.
The owners were interested in a boat that had been designed by Peter Kass of John’s Bay Boat Company in South Bristol. Peter Kass had carved out a model and then Tad Roberts, who at the time was working for Bruce King in Newcastle, took the carved model and put it to paper. The first boat was a full on cruiser, but this one was going to be a very simple day boat. The lines were sent to Will Sturdy of Brooklin Boat Yard in Brooklin who made some minor adjustments.
Just before construction began, Peter had gathered up the wood for the keel, floors, frames and planking, which is not at times very easy to come by. The keel is five inches thick, the frames are 2 x 1¼-inch white oak, and the planking is 1 1/8-inch cedar.
Over the winter Peter, with the assistance of Tim Clark, set up the moulds, framed and then planked the hull, which they finished in the spring. The engine and drive trained was then installed. They then framed out and laid the deck, which was followed by putting down the platform. All that is down forward is a small locker and that is already in place.
Presently, they are working on the cabin, which was almost complete. The trunk is done and Pete was framing up the shelter top. Then will come the shelter top, have windows made and installed and then fiberglass the cabin tops with Dynel. The comes the guards, toe rails and a large box for a stern seat, which would have just a pair of cushions on it. Then comes the details such as hardware and paint.
When asked when he thought she would be launched, Peter said, ‘The day after she’s done,’ which should be mid-summer.
What is next? Pete said he was looking forward to a break. He has a 36-foot cruiser and loves to cruise the coast of Maine. Several years ago, he and his wife, Sue, took the boat south to Florida and they are hoping to do that again this year. The farthest south they went was Key Largo and this time they are hoping to go out to the Bahamas. First, they need to work out the details.
The oyster boat, which Peter has been working on for a number of years when they owner gives him the go ahead to do more, has become Tim Clark’s project. Peter said that he was more versed with a gaff-rigged sailboat than he was. He also said that Tim was going to get some assistance from David Stimpson on her rig. The only design available is for the oyster sloop NELLIE, which was obtained from Mystic Seaport Museum, in Mystic, CT. This sloop is the NELLIE H., and there are some differences., but the designs were still helpful.
Peter did say that he might have a small project for a new boat this winter and that would work well with his cruising south for the winter.
Downeast Custom Boats, Yarmouth, ME
HARPOON is getting close to being finished up. All the stern framing is done, but they need to plank up the stern with mahogany finished off bright. All the ribs and floor timbers are in and she has been refastened. They are now working on the engine. Whoever put this engine in changed the original placement and they put the coupling too close to the packing gland so it cannot be maintained properly. They are moving the engine ahead a couple of inches so you can get at the packing gland. Once this is complete, they will remove the engine and have an electrician come in, tear out all the wiring and rewire the entire boat. They are also finishing up on the planking. They removed three strakes on either side of the keel and already have the garboards in place. They also have a few planks, which were damaged when the put new ribs in, which they are going to replace. They have purchased cedar for the planking and much of this has been milled to near-size and ready to be fitted. Once this is done, the boat will be shipped to Jonesport Shipyard in Jonesport for systems and paint.
They have been working on the stem of ROYAL. When they went to install the new stem they found that the boat had lost some shape, so they made sure that she was true to her lines and put the stem in. Joe Lowell is working on the rabbet line and once this is done Joe needs to fit the rest of the planking into the rabbet. There is not much planking left to do, and most of it is around the hauling patch. There was also some planks, which were fastened with iron and those will have to be replaced.
Joe added, “When this boat came in, she had the original cabin on her with the original fiberglass. That is usually unheard of on a wood boat 40 years old. The top inch of the shear plank has deteriorated underneath the glass and the rails. I can’t tell you how many rub rails he has had on the boat, probably 2 or 3 different sets. Fastening into stuff it weakens things. So, when I took the boat apart, I just removed those planks. I was going to end up recutting the shear anyway and it also gave me a little bit of better access to putting the new full-length ribs in. Once I get that all done, I will do the forward ribs and I have got a few ribs back aft to finish up on. We just bought a new engine, a 2.5 Cummins 250 hp and that needs to be installed. Then I’ll get as much done before the end of the year and moving to Jonesport.”
Joe is also going to Safe Harbors at Eliot to look at a wooden boat, which is having an issue around her shaft log.
Farrin’s Boat Shop, Walpole, ME
In the first bay they have a Wesmac 38, which they finished out for Central Maine Power as a utility boat 14 years ago. The engine, 500-hp John Deere, was removed and replaced with a 550-hp John Deere. They then did a lot of cosmetic work, mostly upgrading the gel-coat on the platform. This will give her at least another ten years maintenance free. Troy Benner was also coming in to add a mast, do a little bit of wiring and add new electronics. She was scheduled to be done and in the water by mid-July.
In the back bay they have a 42-foot split-wheelhouse patrol boat for the Maine Marine Patrol. She has a full interior with a queen size berth forward, which will be used for rescued persons. She also has a small galley and a head. The boat will be operated from inside and the outside station has a pot hauler. There is some storage under the platform. She is powered with a V-8 800-hp MAN and carries about 400 gallons of fuel. This boat is scheduled to be launched in August.
Coming in next will be a Young Brothers 40, which was started at another yard. She will be finished out as a cruiser for a customer from the Caribbean. It is unclear at what stage she is in. Bruce Farrin said ‘She may have a couple of bulkheads in, no engine, no drive train.’ There is no top and they will be building one of their custom top.
Another new build will be on Northern Bay 38, which was laid up at Chislet Boat in Dover, NH. Chislet has borrowed the Northern Bay 36 moulds and then extended it to create this 38. She will be finished out as a sportfisherman for a customer from Ipswich, Massachusetts, but none of the real details have been worked out at this time.
They are also talking about another new build for a local fisherman, which might be a Wayne Beal 36 or a Calvin Beal 38, but that is just in the discussion stage.
There is no repair work scheduled, but that can change at any time.
John’s Bay Boat Co., South Bristol, ME
In the last issue there were several photographs of the new 44-footer VIGILENT going over on 8 June. The original model was based on John Williams’ lobster boat KHRISTY MICHELLE of Stonington, which is 44 x 14. This model has been stretched all the way to 47-feet, which is done by spreading the moulds out. By today’s standards, this boat is lean with just a 14-foot 1-inch beam. The model has also been deepened due to the bigger reduction gear and shaft, so she can swing a larger propeller.
VIGILENT is pleasure cruiser finished out for a customer from Westport, Massachusetts, who also has a summer place in Friendship. He is also a person who truly uses his boat and will cruiser over to the Maritimes or take her south. This is the third John’s Bay Boat he has owned. He bought a used one, and after using that for a time ordered a new one. This one is just a couple of feet bigger than his last, but is very well appointed. She has a V-berth forward with lots of storage, aft of this is a guest cabin with two berths and more storage, then to port is a head and shower. Up in the shelter there is a settee to port, a full galley to starboard and two raised bench seats at the bulkhead for the helm and others. This is all finished with varnished mahogany.
VIGILENT is powered with an 800-hp MAN and all were very pleased with its performance and how quiet it is. Peter Kass, owner of John’s Bay Boat, added, “He can get 25 out of her wide open and its pretty good, she is heavy. She went down to Billings for sea trials and they hauled him out on their Travelift and I think she was 38,000. She did not have that much water and fuel on board and was not soaked up, so she will be over 40,000. I thought she was overwheeled, but actually proved to be a little bit of an engine issue. At 1700, she goes 17 knots at 55 percent load.”
Already they are cutting parts and pieces for the next new boat. This is a new model as the last time they built a boat this size was 30 or more years ago. She is a 34 feet with a 12 foot beam. Peter added, “I made the model and did a rough sketch of the arrangement and Will Sturdy tidied it up. One of the reasons we had Will do it was that he could do just a profile of a boat and show the owner, who could spend some time thinking about what he wanted to do. Will then refined that. Then, which is new for us, Will having everything in his computer he had Hewes & Company CNC cut patterns. I’m pretty impressed and that is going well.
Hewes could not make the patterns, because of the thickness they need to drive a lag into. “We just traced them out on the pine,” explained Peter, “It saves time making the moulds. Instead of lofting the boat and then picking the lines off the floor you can just mark stuff out. I used to be able to do your average boat…I could do the lofting and patterns in a week easy enough. Making the moulds, went a little quicker.”
The owner of this boat grew up tuna fishing with his father out of Salem, Massachusetts. She will have cruising accommodations, not elaborate, more like what they do on the lobster boats. She will have a V-berth, head and a little galley. Up in the wheelhouse the owner just wants a settee and some cabinets.
This boat will be followed by a 32-foot cruiser/lobster boat for Peter on the same model. He said, “I have been thinking about this for years and a few years ago we took a 32-footer I had built. The owner let us use her for a week and I thought that was all we needed. Really comfortable for two and it wasn’t a huge boat. You could usually find a spot at a dock somewhere when you wanted to get a shore. I think you’d have a hard time squeezing a shower into that boat. I want to try and work a shower into it. That and the fact that we are doing this 34 everything is right in front of me so why not?”
Will this be the last new boat to be built by John’s Bay Boat? Peter added, “Time will tell. For the last few months I was down a couple of guys and I am tired of finding myself in that sort of situation. We had a steady crew over the years, but I don’t know how many times we have run into help shortage and the only way I have ever overcome it was to work continuously and that happened on this last boat. I had a guy get done in February and I knew if we did not get that boat done before we got involved with all our service work, it would never get done. I worked seven days a week, 12-14 hours a day and I have had it with that.
“My plan is,” continued Peter, “I have got these two guys that have both been here 16 to 18 years and they know how the place runs. I am going to build my boat and they are going to do service work. Every time we launch a boat there is another service customer. We hate to turn them down, somebody that is good enough to give us a new boat to build, we hate not to help them out when they need it.”
Over the last several years they have had a difficult time trying to find time to work on a new build between April and September. Peter added, “The repair work has always been there. People that have boats that aren’t ours approach us every year and we have always turned them down. The new boats are more demanding, take more planning and I think with the amount of service work we have, we are best to just do that. I am going to miss doing the new boats. When I get mine done, who knows, if the situation looks better, there’s nothing to say we can’t start doing it again.”
Peter has not been taking orders for new boats. With the questions about the lobster industry most of the inquiries have been about yachts.
Jonesport Shipyard, Jonesport
The first major job under the new owners was on SUZIE K., a Wayne Beal 28, which was finished off as a day cruiser by Doug Dodge 32 years ago. In March she was uncovered and it was known that she had a crack in the fiberglass on the back edge of the shelter top. When a knife was struck into the crack the blade disappeared, meaning the plywood was gone. She was moved into the shop and the owner contacted, who gave the okay to make the repairs. The shelter top was removed along with the windows. Then it was noticed that the stern deck had an issue. That was removed along with about two feet of the portside washboards. Composite beams were built for the shelter top and installed. The crew then put down a new top made of Cusa with several minor changes to the cabin. The same was done to the stern deck. The owner then wanted her repainted top to bottom. When she went out the door the end of June she looked like a new boat.
The end of May SARI ANN I, a 40-foot John’s Bay lobster boat, came in for some work. The main job was getting the hull and shelter painted. They also replaced a window and repaired the window, which opens in the winter-back, repaired the hydraulics, added three windshield wipers, replaced the side navigation lights, and upgraded the electronics with a Garmin system. There was still a lot to do, but that will now wait until the fall.
The next project is on TATANIA, a Willis Beal built wooden torpedo stern boat. She needs to be refastened and have her cosmetics redone. She is expected to be in the shop for a couple of months.
Spring work is almost done. There are a few stragglers, but hopefully they will be going over soon so they can enjoy their boat for part of the summer.
